Between the Interviews - Lucky #3 Reflection

So. Many. Themes. Already. 

It’s all about the people that surround you. Cheering theSuleika Jaouad from them. Trusting them to use their strengths to be successful.

Continue to go back to your values, the mission, and what you want your legacy to be. Shannon talked about this when she said, “Find your lane. Get in it and feel good about it.” And Andrew Bolton talked about it when he said, “ If you are doing good work and you are doing good for somebody else, the money will follow.”

There will always be highs and lows, but you just have to keep things moving. (Easter Egg: Emma Grose from MABLE & Hay! Straws has a similar outlook). When the store and office were shut down during COVID, they found a way to keep all of the employees on the payroll for 2 whole years. It’s clear that he prioritizes the people working for Charlie Hustle and made a conscious decision to find a way to keep them on board and working toward the common goal. 

Embrace the pivot! Sometimes we start down a pathway and then decide to make a left turn. Pivots are ok and they’re even better when you take the skills and lessons learned from the path you’ve taken so far to the new pathway that you’re walking down. 

What have I been reading (and what have I been writing): The Book of Alchemy by Suleika Jaouad is a book of essays and writing prompts that combine a wide range of thought-provoking and unexpected writings by people of all kinds with each ending in a writing prompt giving the reader a chance to be involved in the creative process right alongside each of the authors. This book has been a great way for me to get out of my own head for a bit and look at life through a different lens. 10/10 highly recommend. 

I’m not trying to tell you what to do, but here’s where I’m putting my dollar: The Book of Alchemy by Suleika Jaouad (and really any book or piece of art she’s made)

Early and bonus shows as well as curated discussions and merch are available on Patreon.

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Transcript

Hey folks, this is the Between the Interviews show, where I'll provide some context, background reflections and recommendations associated with the Capitalism for Good philosophy. While the interviews are obviously focused on highlighting businesses and their leaders through talking about their experiences and philosophies, the Between the Interviews shows will be mostly me connecting the dots, providing some additional insight, spotlighting the things that I'm listening to, reading and watching in order to learn more, as well as some of the why behind where I am choosing to put my dollar. These Between the Interviews shows will be sprinkled in Between the Interviews and will be posted on the main feed, but will also be posted weekly on the Patreon in video form.

So, if that's your jam, head there. There's a link in the description. Okay, folks, so today I'm going to do a little bit of a reflection of sorts on what was my third interview that was posted here.

It is really exciting. I said this in the write-ups that I did about it. I was so excited to do this one because it had a hometown tie.

It had a company that I have always felt really good about supporting. It is run by another local and it ended up being even better than I had expected, you know. This whole process as I've been kind of crafting what this looks like and trying to figure out how this project is all going to come together was a little bit slow moving to begin with, obviously because I was just figuring it out and trying to outline what was going to happen.

And once people started saying yes, it really started just like dominoes falling in a line. And Greg Moore was one of the first folks who said yes to it. And I think that that willingness to just say yes and take time out of his day, and to be so gracious with his experiences, and so open with the values in the mission of Charlie Hustle was really evident in who this company is, and what they stand for.

And it really just kind of lined up, it made total sense that he would say yes to this after really getting to meet him and hear him talk about everything that Charlie Hustle is doing. There are a couple of things that really stuck out to me. One was, while he sits at the top, he is the president of the company, and has been for several years.

He mentioned so many times the founder, Chase McAuley, and really talked him up about his genius of being a creative and also being a driver of the community give back pieces and creativity and allowing the community to tell their story and give people something really positive to rally behind. And I think that I went through after the interview as I was doing the write-ups and making sure that I had links to everything. And there were, I think, 20, maybe even possibly more shout outs that he did for other companies, organizations, people, all throughout the Kansas City and beyond area that Charlie Hustle works with.

And again, I think that that is really evident. And again, I think that that's a really great example of who Charlie Hustle is and what that company stands for. And it is also interesting that in the first three interviews that were posted, the first being Shannon Masterson, then Andrew Bolton, and then third was Greg Moore, that all three of those folks talked about who you surround yourself with.

And also letting the mission drive what you're doing. And that has really struck me as a theme that just naturally popped out. Shannon talks about how if you are trying to figure out what to do next, and you're trying to figure out where to go, her advice was, I think the line is, find your lane, get in it, and feel good about it.

And then Andrew Bolton talks about following the mission, and then the money will follow. And both of those were really great pieces of advice, especially for someone who is new, starting out, those entrepreneurs who are in those early stages. Or even someone who is a little bit further along, a good reminder to go back to why you started.

What was the driving factor? What was your mission? What was your vision?

And are you sticking to it? And if you continue to go back to that and do that really well, then the money will follow. Charlie Hustle is a great example of that.

I hesitated to ask any, I didn't wanna, I never wanna put a company on the spot to potentially get themselves in hot water or maybe misrepresent what they're doing. But I did ask a question about what it's like to be headquartered in middle America, where you've got folks of all different political beliefs, all different demographics, all different backgrounds and all different maybe political leanings. And yet, one of the things that Charlie Hustle has done in their products that they put out is sometimes they take a stance on things that could potentially be controversial.

I think I specifically asked about Pride or efforts that they've done post shooting at the Victory Parade for the Chief Super Bowl win. And he didn't shy away from that at all, didn't even bat an eye, and just went right back to the KC Heart, which is the logo. It's kind of where Charlie Hustle started.

It is this heart with an overlapping Casey inside of it. And he went back to that. KC Heart is a unifying symbol, and it doesn't matter what color you are, it doesn't matter your sexual orientation, it doesn't matter who you are.

It is supposed to be a symbol to beat your chest, to say, I'm from Kansas City and I'm proud, or I visited Kansas City and I loved it. And I think that that is a really cool mission, and I think that that's a really cool lens to look through the world as. I think it's also a positive spin, which Easter Egg will see in some of the future interviews that will be posted of these leaders who have chill personalities, who just kind of let the chaos of life and the controversy and all of these things in the environment that might get us up in arms.

They really just keep their level heads and it let the cooler heads prevail. Greg even talked about how when things get a little tough, when the temperature gets a little hot, when he gets stressed or when other members of his team get stressed, he goes right back to, we're just selling t-shirts, we're just making t-shirts. And that just kind of like chill, cool, drop the temperature down, positive spin on it seems to be something that is working for them.

Another thing that really stood out to me in that interview was when COVID hit and they shut the store in the office down. He said that they continued to keep their employees on the payroll and working for two years. And that's something that a lot of us lived through and a lot of us saw a lot of ebbs and flows and shrinking and hits to the economy and adjustments to businesses.

And a lot of places were hit pretty hard by that time and a lot of the things that were going on then. And I think that ability to find a way to prioritize your people also allowed them to continue to put out great products, to keep great staff on board, and to keep moving through those tough times. Again, in Easter egg, I think we'll hear about that similar type of outlook and mentality from a couple other leaders in the upcoming interviews.

One of them particularly I'm excited for you to hear about is Emma Grose from MABLE & Hay Straws. She's a co-founder, and she also had a very similar just like, hey, life's gonna ebb and flow, there's always gonna be ups and downs. If it's the tariffs now, it's gonna be something else later, and it was something else in the past, and you just have to learn to kind of roll with it and not get caught off guard by these things that happen, which I think is a lesson that at least I am going to walk away with moving forward.

So yeah, I was really, really excited and really, really impressed with that. Another thing that really stuck out to me in talking to him was that it wasn't just he alone suddenly fell into this position. He grew up in a family and in an environment that prioritized people and prioritized helping the community and prioritized leading with empathy and compassion and instead of kind of looking at things from a selfish lens, he even made a comparison to his management philosophy with how he raises children.

And it seems as though it is just the way he moves through the world. And he referenced the work that both of his parents did and that they were instrumental in starting the dream factory in Kansas City, which is similar to the Make-A-Wish Foundation but local to Kansas City. And I think those values that are instilled in us in a young age and that work ethic really can be pulled through everything you do within your life and including your career trajectory.

And I thought that that was a really good reminder to just go back to your roots, stick to who you are, stick to the things that you stand for. And all of these other things will fall into place. That was a good reminder for me.

Another thing that really stuck out to me and hit home for me personally was about his career journey and how things changed. Obviously, I've talked a little bit about my experience and my past and how I have pivoted and switched careers and switched jobs and really evolved throughout my career path to get to this current moment where I am. And I'm sure if you talk to me in six months or a year or five or ten years, it'll look even different.

But he had some of those similar kind of left turns, starting young and being a broadcast journalism major at Mizzou and then working in e-commerce before finding his way to the apparel company of Charlie Hustle. And I think that ability to take the things that you learn and take your experiences and find ways to apply it to your new position, it might look a little bit different, your fields might be different, but there are still skills and there are still experiences that are valid and that are helpful to you in your new position. So just finding the things that you're learning, being a lifelong learner seems to have really helped him out throughout the way.

And then the last thing that stuck out to me that really hit home for me was, and this kind of goes back to the upbringing and taking the values that are ingrained in you from an early age, but looking at it from a future perspective, he talked about his legacy and what he wants his kids to think of him as once he is gone and moved on. And I think that that's an important thing. It was a good reminder for me to once again, just like going back to your values and going back to the mission, but going back to what do you want your legacy to be?

What do you want to be remembered for? What do you want to feel good about when you're moving on? It kind of goes back to my favorite slogan of leaving this place better than the way we found it.

I think that's just such a key thing that really stuck out to me and hit home, and it was a good reminder of me to be able to like, alright, let's continue to make these decisions that add up to the way in which I get to the type of legacy that it would feel good about leaving. I think about that a lot with the word manifestation that is in the zeitgeist often now, and my interpretation of manifestation is it's just a fancy word for setting clear goals and continuing to work really hard to achieve those goals and making sure that the decisions that you make and the actions that you take are in service of that ultimate goal. And if you continue to work toward those things, then likely you're going to continue to manifest the outcomes that you want.

Despite the chaos, despite everything that's going on, if you just focus on where do you want to be, what do you want to manifest, then likely that will happen. All right, so my What Have I Been Reading is also a What Have I Been Writing and is also a I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but here's where I am putting my dollar. And that is a book from one of my favorite authors, Suleika Jaouad, which is called, this one is The Book of Alchemy, A Creative Practice for an Inspired Life.

She recently did a writers workshop that I attended that was really great. It was all about your fears and the things that you are afraid of. And then what does life look like?

Or what do you imagine life to look like if you were to ignore those fears or move past them and do the things that you really wanna do that really fill your cup. And that was a really great practice for me, especially as someone who is learning to hone some creative skills and to, well, learn new skills in general. And also go back to my own roots and my own values and the things that have been instilled in me.

Something that I have practiced since I was a young child, off and on, again, this is ebbed and flows, there have been years in which I haven't done it. And other times when I've done it every single day for a really long period of time is journaling. And that is what I really loved about both that writing workshop and this book.

The Book of Alchemy has all of these essays and responses to some writing prompts. And then at the end of them, there are also writing prompts. You can use it as a daily practice or just a regular practice, or maybe it's just in everyone's realm.

Everyone's routines are different, everyone's life is different, and everyone's priorities are different. But that's been a really good tool for me to get out of my head a little bit and get out of my, okay, here's my to-do list. This is what I need to do every day.

And to be able to look at life in a little bit of a different lens. And much like just leaning on my village and my crew around me to also bounce ideas off of and hear different perspectives. Being able to have writing prompts that are different than the things that I would have normally thought of, it allows me to kind of open up my brain and process things in a new way.

So if that's your jam, I highly recommend it. Even if you're not into writing and journaling and those kinds of things, the essays and the responses within this book are heartfelt and wide ranging and thought provoking. And I just think Suleika in general is a gem of a human being.

And an inspiring author and artist and musician. So, if any of those things are hitting home for you, I highly recommend. All right, that's enough.

Let's go leave this place better than we found it. All right, before we go, I've mentioned that this project is supported through Patreon. There's a link to Patreon down in the show notes.

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So I really appreciate any and all feedback. I truly do want to hear from you. So if you follow and message me on Instagram, it's at Capitalism for Good Podcast, or email me and message me with your thoughts.

Check the links in the show notes for different ways that you can also contact me. There's a really good chance that I'll send you a discount code for Patreon as a thank you. Really appreciate it.

Thank you so much. All right, that's enough. Let's go leave this place better than we found it.